Once Mentored Raghuram Rajan, This IIT Professor Now Selflessly Serves The Tribals

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We usually hear stories of people working to build their political career, run their social organization or of those who build a goodwill by helping the poor with money. But this man sacrificed everything he had acquired on his own to serve the tribals of Betul and Hoshangabad districts of Madhya Pradesh and he is doing this selflessly for the past 32 years.

This is the story of Professor Alok Sagar who completed his bachelor degree in engineering from IIT Delhi and earned a masters and doctorate from the University of Houston, USA. He then assumed the position of a professor at IIT Delhi. During his tenure, he mentored many prominent personalities of the current generations, one of them being the well-known economist and the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan.

While working at IIT Delhi, Alok felt that he could serve the country better by working with people who form the bottom most of our economic pyramid. His idea of working for the country and society became stronger with every passing day and at one point he decided to quit his hard-earned, reputed job and put all his wealth in the benefit of the tribals. In fact, he dedicated his whole life for their betterment.

Alok, who is serving the tribals in Betul and Hoshangabad for the past 32 years, has been living with 750 tribals at a remote place called Kochamu since the last 26 years. This place has no similarity with the places he used to stay in his early life. There are no basic amenities or facilities available here but it could never hamper his dedication. The place is devoid of electricity and does not even have a proper road. But Alok remains unaffected as his only motto is to serve the poor tribals living in that remote place.

Alok tries to help the tribals in every aspect, but he is working particularly in the area of tree plantation as well as to protect and build the forest in this area. Till now he has planted more than 50,000 trees here and also distributes seeds among the villagers encouraging them to plant trees. He can speak all the local languages and dialects and dedicates most of his time to solve the problems of these tribals.

People can serve the country by working with the lowest level of the society. There are many problems in India, but instead of trying to solve them people demonstrate their intellect by displaying the degrees they earned in their lifetime – Alok Sagar in an interview to Hindustan Times

Alok Sagar was living his life anonymously for several years until the last district elections in Betul. It was then the administrators found that he was quite different from the rest of the population. After getting more information, the administrators came to know about his academic history, which proved to be true upon investigation. Even the senior officers got the shock of their lifetime when they came to know about Alok’s sacrifice.

Alok lives a very ordinary life, leaving behind all the opportunities to earn crores of rupees by using his excellent educational background and knowledge. He only has three kurtas and a bicycle in the name of property. He uses his bicycle to roam about trying to improve the lives of the tribals in this locality.

We have heard of many people talking about serving the poor for their personal benefit. But Alok left all these lucrative opportunities. It is not an ordinary venture to live a life with the tribals and serve them with all his capabilities. His service towards society cannot be described in words.